Southwest Truths (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 3) by Kal Aaron (the red fox clan .txt) 📗

survive the trip, only that it’d bring everything out in the open.

Aisha answered after a single knock. She was wearing a red and green silk robe. She raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t expect you to come here.” She still looked pale, but she was moving without obvious trouble. She motioned inside. “Join me then, Corti. You’ve come a long way for some difficult-to-fathom reason.”

Lyssa stepped into the apartment. She’d been expecing a grand shrine to elegance rather than the tiny utilitarian apartment with no decoration other than a small golden statue of the Hindu god Agni sitting on Aisha’s coffee table. There wasn’t even a television.

The last one didn’t surprise Lyssa much. She doubted Aisha was the kind of woman who would get into something like Sensual Sorceress.

After Lyssa’s recent travels, she couldn’t risk sitting on Aisha’s bright white couch. Assuming she survived her trip, she didn’t want to spend the next ten years hearing about how she’d stained the glorious Flame Deva’s handpicked furniture. Aisha closed the door behind Lyssa and headed to the couch. She sat on the edge, crossing her ankles before shooting Lyssa an expectant look.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t bring your enemies to my doorstep,” Aisha said. “I don’t regret helping you, but that wasn’t at my home.”

“I’ll be gone soon.” Lyssa sighed. “I wanted to check on you. You got hurt pretty badly, and I’m not a person who overlooks when people get messed up helping me. Samuel said you were doing okay, but I wanted to make sure since there’s a lot of crap going on right now.” She looked at the robe. “Is that your regalia?”

“There are advantages to a more naturally flowing regalia when a woman needs to recover from injuries.” Aisha smiled. “You needn’t worry. I have some pain, but my main wounds are closed. I’m a Torch. It’s not the first time I’ve been seriously injured, any more than Houston was your first time.”

Lyssa winced. There wasn’t time for guilt or self-pity. Aisha was right. Torches put their lives and bodies on the line all the time. The end of the encounter wasn’t important; it was what led up to it. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Aisha scoffed. “For being shot by Shadows like a fool? It’s embarrassing, but I will need to take it into account for the future so that kind of humiliation doesn’t happen again.”

“It might not have been your fault.” Lyssa lifted a hand. “Not that being more careful will hurt either of us.”

“Not my fault, how?” Aisha narrowed her eyes.

“I don’t want to go into the details because it’ll drag you into something more dangerous, but did you feel any sorcery before the shot?”

“Of course I did. We were both using a lot of sorcery.”

“But your shield didn’t thin, or would you even be able to tell?”

Aisha’s face twitched. “You’re saying it wasn’t only the bullets?”

“I don’t know for certain, but I think someone damaged your shield with a subtle spell, and the bullets were the final push.” Lyssa shrugged. “It might have also made you more vulnerable.”

Aisha leaned forward, her brow furrowed. “In the excitement of the battle, I could have missed something like that. I’m used to needing more power for my shields and can manipulate the necessary spells without much thought.” She stared at Lyssa. “You’re saying the rogue got me but didn’t get you?”

“Something like that.” Lyssa walked over to Aisha’s window and peeked between the blinds, half-expecting Tristan to be floating outside, ready to kill them both. “I’ve given up on hiding. I’m going to keep pursuing this until I take the people responsible for it out, both for myself and you.”

“Me?” Aisha asked.

“You didn’t have to help me when I asked, but you did.” Lyssa shrugged. “And sure, I know you have your whole ‘No one can kill you but me’ thing, but agreeing to help me out when you know I’m being hunted by a possible rogue means a lot. You also watched over me when I got hurt fighting Allard.”

“I did it all for the Society.” Aisha folded her arms. “Rogues threaten our order. If things get disrupted, the Shadows might make a move.” She looked away. “Don’t get too conceited, Corti. Not everything’s about you.”

Lyssa bit her tongue to keep from laughing. Years of bad blood weren’t going to be wiped away by a couple of months of good work together, but Aisha’s continued defiance bordered on absurd.

“You can just say we’re friends now, Aisha.” Lyssa smiled. “I know we had bad blood for a long time, but I always kind of thought of you as my talented but bratty younger sister.”

Aisha snorted. “You know what I thought about you.”

“But we’re past that.” Lyssa patted her jacket. “I understand why you and your family were annoyed about the Night Goddess. In a parallel world where my mom didn’t bind this regalia, I probably would have ended up in other regalia, too. We probably would have been friends.”

“You have other objectionable traits.” Aisha huffed.

Lyssa snickered. “Whatever you think, we make a good team. We don’t have to be besties to bring the pain.”

Aisha nodded. “I won’t question our combat effectiveness, but did you come all this way to tell me that? I suspect there’s something far more than trying to make me feel better by suggesting it wasn’t mere Shadows who defeated me. I’m not sure I believe you, but I appreciate the gesture.”

“You think I’d lie about a rogue messing you up just to make you feel better?” Lyssa asked.

“I think in your misguided mind, it makes perfect sense.” Aisha’s mouth twitched with a flicker of amusement. “I know you think yourself a superior investigator, and I might even be willing to acknowledge that’s true, but you’ve hinted there’s far more going on here than I already believe. I don’t think you came here just to check on me.”

“I don’t want to go into details because of the risk, but something’s come up,” Lyssa replied. “I’ve